Forget and Forgotten
by toreax
Summary: Leonardo looks around with hopeless eyes. They forgot again. They forgot his birthday again. Is this the sixth time? Yeah, it is.


**Warning: Depression**

Leonardo awoke to his alarm clock blaring in his ears. His tired eyes looked over to the bright red numbers that blinked 5:00 a.m. He rubbed his eyelids, ignoring how puffy they were. He sighed deeply and tossed off the sheets from his bed and tied his mask, covering the black rings underneath his eyes.

_I'm sixteen today._

Walking out of his room, Leonardo made his way to the dojo. Everything was silent, his master not even awake. He slid the dojo doors open, shuffling into the room, the soft mats molding to his steps. His heart throbbed loudly in chest, echoing in his ears.

_Would they forget?_

Leonardo went through his warm ups, taking his time, then running through some easy katas to get the morning started. Soon enough, his brothers joined him.

Raphael walked in first, following by Mike, then Donnie. They all held the same loud, drawn out yawns, indicating that they were very tired, not too excited for training.

"Mornin' Leo." Raphael greeted his voice thick with sleep.

"Good morning, Bro." Mike said nonchantly.

Leo nodded in their direction, "Morning."

Leo looked over to Donatello, who looked like a real zombie; his shoulders sagged, eyes barely open.

"Good morning, Donnie."

Donatello looked over to him groggily, "I need coffee."

Leo didn't hold back the chuckle that escaped his mouth, shaking his head lightly as he disguised his downhearted expression.

Master Splinter soon entered and they began their usual warm-ups. Leonardo had already done them without his brothers, but he repeated them again like every morning. They spared; Leonardo and Raphael. Raphael had won. Leonardo didn't really notice.

The day went on, everyone doing their normal routines. Donatello was in his lab, working on the latest project or fixing an electronic while Raphael and Michelangelo had one of their rare video game challenges against each other. Leonardo looked at the TV sitting behind the duo, not really paying attention to the bets and curses.

Night time came and Leonardo knew that everyone was too tired to go on patrol tonight, but Leonardo really needed some air, and some alone time.

"I'm going on a walk, guys." Leonardo stated.

Raphael glanced back and grunted, acknowledging Leonardo that his words had been known.

Leonardo waited until he got topside before he ran.

Leonardo ran until his legs burned in protest. He didn't stop until he reached the docks, sitting in a very large pipe to look out at the ocean. The waves crashed against each other while the storm clouds covered up the twinkling stars above. The sky was black, not reflecting anything. The thick cement echoed the noise from the water, playing in his head. It was settling, almost like a melody.

They all got to choose their birthdays since they weren't aware of the day they were truly born. His brothers picked early dates in the summer, whereas Leonardo preferred fall time, his favorite season. He wasn't considered the youngest, Mikey was. It went more by maturity levels. He really was the big brother. But Leonardo wasn't sure of anything anymore.

He remembered Raphael's sixteenth birthday. Michelangelo had made him his favorite breakfast while Master Splinter gave him the day off of training. Mikey was met with the best cooking the small family could actually do in the morning and then they got to play video games or went skateboarding for his treat. Sometimes even swimming. On Donatello's, Mike made him his favorite breakfast and they all took a fun trip to the scavenging yard.

Leonardo sighed and pulled out a small suriken from his leather belt. He raised it up to his plastron and lightly scratched another mark next to the already five tally marks on his side. Another year, another birthday.

_They had forgotten again._

This was the sixth time they had forgot his birthday. He marked the years on his plastron to keep count since he had nothing else to do. Leaning forward, he scratched another mark against the cement, deeper than his plastron next to the other five tallies. This was his favorite place to come whenever he needed to chill, to get away from everything just for a little while. So, he marked them here to, just in case that his plastron got dented over the tallies from a fight. It's happened before. He didn't want to do it in his room; he was worried that his brothers might ask him why there were tally marks on his wall. Well, if his brothers actually came into his room.

He barked a humorless laugh.

He couldn't remember the last time they did anything for him. They didn't even tease him about being 'Fearless Leader' anymore.

It was like he was just fading away.

Leonardo breathes in the fresh air, filling his lungs. The water created small scents of salt in the air as the crashing waves were lifted into the air on impact from the mountain and then down again.

He tried breathing in again, only to be cut off with a hitch of air before he started to hiccup. His hiccups turned into lone, warm tears spiraling down his cheeks, then heart wrenching sobs that tore through his chest with emotion.

He drew his legs up to his chest, rocking a bit as he brought his forehead down on his knees. He wondered if his brothers remembered waves, because they didn't really remember him.

_He was just fading away._

_Fading away into the forgotten._

Leonardo cried even harder when flashes of the day whirled in his mind.

Time passed and Leonardo didn't even notice, didn't even check the time when his crying ceased, turning into small sniffles and shuddering breathes.

"I have to go."

_They didn't realize he wasn't back._

Leonardo took his time walking back peacefully. He didn't mind the blaring car horns and angered shouts in the distance. He has been living in New York for sixteen years and has definitely gotten used to it.

He arrived home a short time later. No one was in sight around the lair, but Leonardo could hear Raphael and Michelangelo's loud snores. Donatello's lab light was turned out and there was no movement from his Fathers room, everyone had gone to bed.

Leonardo went to his room, shutting the door softly to not wake anyone up. His throat hurt from the strangled sobs and he could tell that his eyes were red and puffy. He took a deep, shuddering breathes, fighting off new tears that brimmed his eyes.

Leonardo walked over to his wall with slumped shoulders and once again flicked out his shuriken, bringing the sharp edges to the wall. It took a few scratches for each one to actually see a mark. He put down six tallies.

It's been six years since they last celebrated his birthday. He was nine; ten years old when they stopped. He remembered the hopeful looks he gave his family that year, waiting for any of them to at least say a small 'Happy Birthday'. It never came.

_Happy Birthday to me, I guess._

Leonardo lay down on his bed, curled up in a ball and cried himself to sleep.

_He knew that they would forget._

_He would soon be forgotten._

**Goodness, what is it with me and depressing Leo stories. He's a great character, but why does my mind always conjure up things like this? No idea. This is another old one that I discovered in the pits of my laptop, but better than some others. It wasn't too bad. Hope you enjoyed.**


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